


OPERATION: G.E.N.D.E.R.

by kryptonianmenace



Category: Codename: Kids Next Door
Genre: Gen, Trans Character, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:33:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24748387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kryptonianmenace/pseuds/kryptonianmenace
Summary: An exploration of Wally's gender.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 30





	OPERATION: G.E.N.D.E.R.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not coming up with an acronym for that title.

It started when Wally Beetles met Hoagie P. Gilligan Jr.

Well, that’s misleading.

It started much earlier than that. But we’re starting our story with these two.

From the young age of five, the two were thick as thieves.

That is, until Wally’s parents started joking about Hoagie being Wally’s boyfriend.

See, Wally didn’t know boys could date boys and girls could date girls. His parents only ever told him about girls dating boys. And Wallabee Beetles was seen as a girl by his parents.

He cried, complaining that he didn’t want a boyfriend if it meant he was a girl.

“Boys can have boyfriends,” Hoagie said, when he found Wally crying. “My neighbor has a boyfriend and he’s a boy.”

Wally sniffled. “Really?”

“Yeah!” Hoagie said.

“But my mom said…” Wally started.

Hoagie cut him off. “Well, she’s an adult. What does she know?”

Wally laughed. “You’re right about that.”

“But I don’t want to be your boyfriend,” Hoagie added. “You make fun of me for liking Doctor Space Time, and that’s mean.”

* * *

Being taken to ‘Bring Your Daughter To Work Day’ grated on Wally’s every last nerve. He had told his parents time and time again that he was a boy. Yet here he was, stuck waiting the day out while his dad worked.

Upside: the bad guys recognized him as a boy.

Downside: the bad guys were sending him and all the girls off planet.

Upside: Kuki was there!

Ultimately, he saved the day, but he went home that night knowing his parents still saw him as their daughter, the knowledge weighing him down.

* * *

The last attempt at boarding school was also the first ever attempt at a gendered school. All the schools before had been co-ed, so Wally had no problems, apart from the fact that he was separated from his friends. But St. Rita’s Preparatory School was full of girls and led by a girl trying to turn him into one of them.

The following adventure was lost to time travel shenanigans, but Wally still seethed when he thought about St. Rita’s, thinking about the fact his parents sent him to a school that could’ve turned him into a girl.

Luckily, after that, they gave up and sent him to public school with his friends.

* * *

Sneaking into Fanny’s sleepover was easy, all he had to do was pull out some of the girlier clothes his mom bought for him and make his hair look longer.

It made him uncomfortable, but he didn’t want to miss out on the mission.

Afterwards, Fanny pulled him aside.

“Look, you made a big deal out of being a boy to me when we first met,” she said. “You can’t go dressing like a girl when it conveniences you, just to trick me.”

“First of all, I shouldn’t have tricked you,” Wally said. “But I can dress however I like whenever it conveniences me. It’s my gender and I can do what I want with it.”

Fanny glared at him. “Fine, but I still think you’re a stupid boy.”

“Fine,” he said.

* * *

The space trip that landed them on the Rainbow Monkey planet that turned out to just be the Rainbow Monkey amusement park on Earth often stuck out in Wally’s mind, for one small reason.

“It’s obviously just a very ugly little girl,” the animatronic Rainbow Monkey had said.

Obviously?

Was he really just… A boy who looked like an ugly little girl?

Did he really just look like a little girl?

* * *

When Sector V finally met Henrietta von Marzipan as her true self, Wally paused to talk to her out of earshot of the others. 

“Hey, Henrietta?” he asked.

“What?” she asked.

“I just want to say, I’m sorry about what you went through. Being in a body that doesn’t fit you is just… indescribable. I’m glad Abby had your last caramel all this time,” Wally said.

Henrietta eyed him suspiciously.

“What would you know about it?” she asked.

Wally paused for a long moment. “I’m transgender,” he admitted.

“Oh,” she said.

“I wish I had a solution as simple as a caramel,” he said.

“I’m sorry you don’t,” Henrietta said.

Wally shrugged. “It’s whatever.”

“Do you mind my asking, why do you think that your caramel didn’t take your gender?” Henrietta asked.

“Cos it doesn’t define me, it’s just part of who I am,” Wally said. “You said earlier that my caramel took my… ferocity, was it? That’s me. That defines me.”

* * *

Wallabee Beetles wasn’t stupid. He did his research. Sure, he didn’t do well in school, but when something was important to him, he tried his best to understand.

And his gender? That was important.

He may not have changed his name, but he didn’t need to. His name still felt right to him, and it helped that it was gender neutral. It helped that everyone assumed Wally was short for Wallace.

He learned the word transgender when he was nine. He was banned from the computer for a month after his parents found his search history. But he had a word for himself.

* * *

“I’m transgender,” he told his parents when he was ten. “I’ve known I was a boy since I was three, and I’ve tried telling you multiple times, but I’m putting my foot down. I’m a boy, I’m transgender, and I’m your son. I’m not your daughter.”

“Well… I can’t say this is a surprise. You have been telling us for years, after all,” his mom said.

“We’re going to have to talk about this,” his dad said.

“What is there to talk about?” Wally asked.

“Your mom and I need to do more research on this, so we can better understand,” his dad said. “You start Physical Education when you go to middle school, so we’ll need to talk to the school about your gender since you’ll have to change in the locker rooms."

* * *

Wally started therapy when he was thirteen.

“Your parents tell me your friends have always treated you like the boy you are, even when they didn’t. What can you tell me about that?” the therapist asked one day.

Wally shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t really remember my friends.”

“You don’t remember your friends?” she asked. “You don’t have any now?”

“Well, we started a new grade this year, you see, and everyone just… avoided me,” he said, sarcasm lacing his tone. “But no, I don’t have any friends, and I don’t remember having any.”

His therapist was more concerned with the gaps in his memory than with his gender, which is both a relief and an annoyance.

“It’s quite possibly depression due to the trauma of being misgendered for so long,” the therapist theorized. “Depression can affect how you form memories, both long term and short term.”

Wally didn’t really care much about the memory gaps - the memories were gone and not coming back, why should he care?

But his therapist encouraged him to ask his parents for the names of his old friends, to try to reconnect.

* * *

Abby Lincoln, Kuki Sanban, and Hoagie Gilligan also don’t remember being friends, though their parents all remember Wally. Despite this, the four get along instantly. 

Abby was all cool words and actions, pulling Wally into conversations when she thought he was being left out. She wouldn’t say it, but she cared immensely.

Kuki was sunshine and happiness and hidden rage. Playing video games with her was a minefield of emotions because you never knew when her anger would show it’s head.

Hoagie was nerdy with an underlying cool factor to him. He was constantly dragging Wally along on random adventures.

* * *

While Hendry Middle School had allowed Wally to opt out of physical education so that he wouldn’t have to change in the locker rooms, McClintock High School did not do the same. The high school required him to change in the girls’ locker room, as that was the gender on his birth certificate.

That was the year all his classmates learned he was transgender.

* * *

“This changes nothing. You’re still Wally, we’re still friends, and I’ll still beat up anyone who gives you a hard time,” Abby said.

“I spent all night researching what it means to be transgender with my mom,” Kuki said. “If you ever want to talk, I may not fully understand, but I’ll try my best.”

“If anyone messes with you, they’re messing with all of us,” Hoagie said. “We’re a package deal. You’re our best friend.”

* * *

And yeah, people gave him a hard time. But that shouldn’t be the point. The point was, he dealt with it in stride.

He graduated, went to college, lived his life.

It all turned out fine.

**Author's Note:**

> I realized while writing this that this was just me fantasizing about realizing that I was trans earlier in my life. That's therapy, baby!  
> Here's my KND spotify playlist if you wanna take a listen: [KND Vibes.](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/426HYMwrxGUYch92EM0Lcl?si=9QhI2_RTRIOmEdmgAAb6RQ)  
> [Check out my tumblr!](https://haljordanisbatman.tumblr.com/)


End file.
